Life as we Know it
by TierOneAsset
Summary: Follow a group of unlikely friends as they struggle to survive in this new, violent world. OCs WANTED! PM me! Rated T due to language and gore.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Tokonosu City, Japan. 12/21/12. 6:15 am. Z-Day.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP _blared the alarm clock. A hand shot out from underneath the messy fortress of blankets at breakneck speed and smashed the snooze button. Rolling out of bed, a boy lumbered sleepily towards the bathroom. This was all part of the morning routine for Jonas Blane. Wake up, brush teeth, shower, get dressed, grab backpack, skip breakfast, go to school. Wash, rinse, repeat. When he was changed and ready to go, he began the long walk down the hallway to the top of the stairs.

Once there, his mom called out "Make sure to eat breakfast or something!"

"I won't" he muttered under his breath.

Pulling open a drawer, Jonas pulled out his keys, absentmindedly spinning them around his finger as he entered the garage. He swung his leg over his Ducati and inserted the key. The sound of the engine filled the garage as the Superbike roared to life, the sound drowning out all others. Pausing only to put his helmet on, he sped out of the garage.

* * *

Ellie giggled as Sean pulled her into the Athletic shed behind the gym. It was a well known spot where couples performed less...academic activities. They began to kiss passionately and she felt the world melt away. Her mind only registered one thing. _Sean._ She needed him more than she needed air, she craved him. He was hers, forever. His kisses trailed down her neck and he gave her a gentle bite. She giggled again, blushing. His hands began to pull her in a little too roughly, his bites becoming increasingly frantic.

"Sean, slow down. That hurts! SEAN!" she complained.

He made no indication that he had heard her, puller her closer still, his hands locking her firmly in place. Frightened, she tried to withdraw. He grunted harshly, a guttural sound as his nails dug into her back, blocking her escape.

"Sean, you're hurting me. Stop!" Ellie yelled

She screamed as his next bite tore through the sinew of her neck, her blood spraying out in a gushing fountain as his teeth sliced through her jugular. Her next scream was transformed into an incoherent gurgle that was drowned out by his moans as his teeth dug deeper and deeper…

* * *

As he was pulling into the school parking lot, Jonas heard sirens blaring obnoxiously behind him as 3 police cruisers sped by, hastily weaving in and out of traffic. He shook his head and parked in his allotted spot. Jonas looked around and sighed. He had been at Rakunan senior high school for about 4 months now and hated everything about it. It was a school predominantly filled with the sons and the daughters of the rich and powerful. These students seemed to believe their parent's power had transcended into them and acted accordingly.

_Pompous, spoiled brats, _he thought.

He turned around to begin the walk to first period when he overheard two girls whispering, their heads together.

"I don't know! He just bit me! I rolled down the window to give him some money and he bit me in the hand!" complained one of the girls, holding up her poorly bandaged hand for her friend to see.

"That's so weird! You should go to the nurse, what if it gets infected?" replied the second girl as she examined the makeshift bandage.

The bitten girl snorted "Infected? With what? He may have been homeless, but I don't think he was thaaaaat dirty, but anyway, did you hear about the girl from our third period? She-"

Jonas lost interest. He continued walking, attempting to drown out the sound of all the pointless chatter surrounding him. A group of girls eyed him warily as he walked by. He had already earned a reputation for being an "asshole" and people treated him as such. He didn't really feel the need to please everyone, so he didn't. It was as simple as that. A high pitched scream rent the air, cutting through the buzz in the courtyard. Every head turned towards the unnatural sound as the din died down. Jonas felt a chill run down his spine and began to walk towards the sound, interested. The rest of the students followed close behind. The air was silent as they walked around the gym, trying to pinpoint the exact source of the sound. A loud thump from the athletic shed caused everyone to jump. Jonas approached the doors cautiously, beckoning another student to come help him. Together, Jonas and the blonde haired boy of about 14 slowly opened the double doors.

Peering inside, the blonde boy said "Hello? Who's in-"

His words were cut off as a pair of hands grabbed him from the darkness, pulling him towards their owner's gaping mouth. From the darkness, there was a sickening crunch followed by a pained yell as the two struggled. Surprised, Jonas fell backwards with a shout as a second person, a blonde girl with ashen skin, stumbled out of the shed, moaning as she reached towards him. Behind him, the students that had gathered held their breath, not understanding the situation. Jonas rolled to his feet quickly, taking a defensive stance.

"What the hell? Are you OK? Someone call the nurse!" he yelled back to the students, noting the blood pouring from her neck.

He eyed the girl closely and took a step back without realizing it, disgusted by what he saw. Her neck was completely shredded, the blood ran down from the gaping wound and soaked her entire shirt. Her eyes looked milky, glazed over. She looked in his general direction with unseeing eyes and snarled, launching herself towards the sound of his voice. Acting quickly, he smashed his fist into her face, breaking her nose with a crunch. She staggered backwards and gnashed her teeth. Unfazed she ran at him again and Jonas dove out of the way. Her hands caught the nearest student in the crowd and she dug her face into his arm, tearing out a huge chunk of his arm. All hell broke loose. Screams filled the air as the student scattered, running for the nearest buildings. Jonas looked at the entrance of the shed and watched in horror as the blonde boy and the thing that had grabbed him stalked out of the shed. Without hesitation, they were on the boy from the crowd, tearing into him as he whimpered, well past screaming as one of his lungs was being torn out from underneath his ribcage. Jonas remembered the training his father gave him, assessing the situation and the strength of his opponents. He looked at the 3 students munching on their peer and grimaced when one turned its head towards him, raw flesh dangling from its mouth.

_Run or die,_ he thought grimly.

Jonas ran like hell.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! If something is bothering you with my writing style, please, please, please PM me about it. I'm still in the process of learning. Any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Tokonosu City, Japan. 12/21/12. 6:30 am. Z-Day

"Aphy! Hey!"called a voice out from behind Aphrodite as she sat in the courtyard, reading her textbook, waiting for the bell to ring so she could take this test she had been studying so hard for. Aphy looked up to see one of her soccer teammates, Ellie, running up to her. "GUESS WHAT? Sean just asked me to go into the shed! The SHED!" she called out as she sat down onto the bench.

Aphy blinked at her, uncomprehending. Why anyone would want to go into a dark, smelly equipment shed was beyond her.

"Aphy, come ON! The Shed! You know… Lovers paradise!" she said dramatically, throwing her arms out.

Ellie was their defensive midfielder on the team and she had a reputation for falling in love with the wrong guys. She could be seen with a different "Casanova" every week. Aphy knew her well enough to know that she was just a harmless airhead, one a little too eager to find "true love". With a sigh, she closed her textbook and forced a smile.

"That's great, Ellie! You should probably get there quickly, class is going to start in 15 minutes" she replied, glancing down at her watch.

Ellie sprung up from the bench and bowed to Aphy. "I take my leave, my captain" she joked.

Shaking her head, Aphy flipped back to her page and began reading again. About 5 minutes later, she heard a chilling scream. She looked up and saw a crowd of students begin to form. They began to move behind the gym, no doubt to investigate the sound. Annoyed, Aphy grabbed her bag and moved inside where she could concentrate. She climbed the stairs to second floor where she entered her classroom.

"Morning, Ms. Watana-" Aphy froze midsentence as she registered the substitute teacher sitting in Ms. Watanabe's desk.

"Good morning, my name is Mr. Yoshida. Ms. Watanabe called in sick today, she is currently being treated at the hospital" said the substitute formally.

"What's she sick with?" Aphy asked.

"I do not know. I wasn't told. Class begins in 7 minutes. Take your assigned seat, please, Ms…"

"Demetrius. Aphy Demetrius" She replied as she walked to her seat, not bothering to turn around.

Outside, she could hear students screaming and yelling. _Probably just another fight,_ Aphy thought as she strode over to the window and looked outside. Her mouth dropped open as she saw the same group of students from before running, no, _sprinting_ away from something. She could make out the fear etched on their faces as they raced towards the buildings.

"I think something's going on outside" she said to the substitute.

"Allow me" he insisted as he took up her position at the window. He turned pale as he saw the commotion going on outside. "R-right you are, Ms. Demetrius. I'll go have a look outside"

Mr. Yoshida walked over to the door and had opened it halfway when a student tackled him to the ground. He screamed in pain as the struggling pair collided with the desk.

"Hey, what are y-" started Aphy when she realized the student was _biting _him.

At the sound of her voice, the bloodstained student looked up hungrily and lumbered towards her, groaning heavily. His eyes were glazed over, but managed to retain enough clarity to show a crazed, deranged look in his eyes. His right arm was torn apart, revealing white bone underneath the scraps of flesh still hanging on. She grabbed the nearest object, a pencil, and held it out in front of her.

"Stay back! I don't want to hurt you" she warned.

"With a pencil? Not really very effective against the undead, don't you think?" said a voice from the door.

The deranged student's head imploded as the owner of the voice brought a baseball bat down onto it, smashing it into a pulp. The boy looked a little taller than average and looked athletic. He took a look at Mr. Yoshida and raised his bat.

"Wait! What are you doing?" cried Aphy.

"Saving your life" replied the stranger as he brought the bat down on Mr. Yoshida's still form. Aphy winced at the crunching sound as he brought the bat down again and again. "My name's Takuya. Takuya Lockheart. Oh, and by the way, you're welcome".

"I had it under control! I didn't need your help!" Aphy exclaimed. "And…what do you mean by 'undead'"?

"By undead, I mean not dead." answered Takuya unhelpfully. Pausing a moment to think, he started again "I think they're not quite alive, but not really dead either"

"You mean…like Zombies?"

"Something like that. All I know is, they bite you, you become one. Or they eat you. Neither one's really looking like shits and giggles to me, so I think I'm going to get out of here. And don't try calling the police, all you get is an automated message telling you they're too busy. Basically, they're saying 'fuck you, you're on your own!'" Takuya replied cheerfully.

"Well, I'm going to stay here and wait for help."

"No, you're not. We have to get out of here. I'm not a fan of getting eaten alive and you shouldn't be either. Come on." said Takuya, grabbing her arm. He pulled her to the door and they ran down the hallway. They jogged through the bloodstained hallways, avoiding the puddles of red.

"All this blood and no bodies" murmured Aphy as she ran.

"Down the stairs" whispered Takuya as they descended to the 1st floor.

Screams coming from the cafeteria caused Aphy to pause mid-stride as she turned to face the hallway leading to the lunchroom. Takuya turned around and whispered harshly. "We gotta move. NOW. Let's go. We can't help them" The screams ceased.

Aphy shook her head and ran towards the cafeteria. Shaking his head, Takuya ran after her. Together, they shouldered open the door to find four students standing amongst a pile of bodies.


	3. Chapter 3

This is kind of a long chapter! My apologies. Sorry if your character doesn't get much action, I'm only trying to introduce characters! It's still chock full of zombie smashing and bashing, slicing and dicing ;)

_Well, this is new,_ thought Jonas as he sprinted by a fresh corpse being ravaged by a pair of the freaks. All around him he could hear the screams and cries of the dying and desperate as they struggled to remain alive amidst the chaos. _Ahhh, here we go,_ he thought as a small, unimposing building came into view. He approached it cautiously, stepping over a half eaten body in order reach the door. Slowly, he pushed it open and looked around. Nothing. Jonas released the break he didn't know he had been holding and entered, locking the door behind him. He was in the janitors little living quarters, hoping to find tools or something he could fashion into a weapon. The janitor couldn't afford to live anywhere else, so the school had provided this fine little…shack.

_There's gotta be something I can use here,_ Jonas thought as he stripped the place, turning it upside down in order to find something of value. His eyes fell on an old battered locker with an equally battered lock . _Bingo_. He picked up a brass lamp and smashed the lock. It game way immediately, the years of accumulated rust had weakened it considerably. Inside, there was a broom, a mop, a spade, and a hammer. Jonas sighed and grabbed the hammer, turning to exit the shack. He froze as the doorknob slowly began to turn. With baited breath, he moved to one side of the door and raised his hammer. The door opened with a creak that sounded like a cannon blast in the silence. A girl with long sandy brown hair sauntered through. Jonas slammed the door shut behind and pushed the girl over, his hammer raised.

"SAY SOMETHING." He commanded.

"Fine. How about 'hit me with that hammer and the zombies will be the LAST thing you'll have to worry about" she replied, glaring up at him.

Jonas dropped his arm and extended his free hand toward her. She knocked it aside and rose to her feet, dusting herself off. She glanced around at her surroundings and her features melted into an easy grin. "Nice place you've got here. I'm Aki Youngblood. You're Jonas, right?"

Jonas ignored her and moved to the window. He pushed aside the dusty curtains and gazed outside.

"How's the weather" joked Aki as she walked over to the locker and grabbed the broom. With a snap, she broke off the tip on her knee, turning it into a crude spear. Jonas eyed the makeshift spear in silence. He nodded in approval.

"You better hope that thing holds up"

"So it CAN speak! Shame, I was actually betting against that outcome!" she laughed.

Despite himself, Jonas felt a faint smile touch his lips. He turned towards the door and placed his hand on the knob. He looked at Aki inquisitively.

"Yeah, I'm coming. But you should know that I don't usually make a habit of picking up strays! On 3 then. 1…2-"she said.

On 2, Jonas threw open the door and rushed outside. He tried to distance himself from the shack so as to avoid getting cornered. Outside, the air was still, not a single thing stirred.

"Where did you learn to count?" Aki huffed.

As they stalked forward, they heard shouts from inside the school. Jonas ran for the doors with Aki trailing close behind. Inside, the moans of the undead echoed off the walls, sending a shiver down his spine. The floor was slick with blood from recent victims. _Poor bastards, _he thought. Proceeding carefully, Jonas took great care in where he placed his feet. The shouts started again, doubling in intensity and desperation as the unknown people were no doubt assaulted by more of these fiends. Aki ran past him, towards the sound. He quickened his pace, settling for a dead sprint as they made their way deeper into the bowels of the school. She slowed to a stop at the doors leading to the cafeteria. Aki looked at Jonas pointedly who nodded in turn.

Together, they yanked open the doors and charged inside, their weapons drawn. In the middle of the room, 3 students manned the top of a table, striking down at the creatures reaching for their feet, each swing signaling the end of yet another of the undead.

"We have to help them!" yelled Aki, struggling to be heard over the groans and moans filling the cafeteria.

Jonas winced as the sounds assaulted his ears. "Agreed. Take the left, I've got the right" he ordered.

He charged forward, his hammer raised. He brought it down on the head of the nearest unsuspecting zombie, surprised at the ease of which it tore through its head. He heard a shuffling behind him and spun on the ball of his foot, and was yanked downward as the zombie attached to his hammer sank to the ground, dragging him with it. With a yell, he kicked his latest assailant in the chest, buying himself a few seconds respite. Turning back around, he firmly grasped the handle with both hands and heaved, the hammer sprung free of the muck with a wet, squelching sound. In the same motion he spun around again and drove the sharp end into the second zombie's temple. Its moans ceased as the hammer destroyed its brain. It toppled over and Jonas grinned. 2 more blows resulted in the "death" of 2 more of the creatures. He glanced over at Aki. She seemed to be holding her own. Having taken 2 down already, she was steadily working on her third. Jabbing it through and through, over and over until its body forfeited the battle, too battered to continue. Her face was alight with grim determination. Turning his attention back to the now dwindling crowd of zombies, Jonas waded through the mess, inflicting as much damage as he could. He maintained a somber expression as he landed blow after blow, the hammer smashing through bone as easy as it might smash cardboard. When the last of the freaks had fallen, its chest staved in by Jonas' hammer, the students on the top of the lunch table hopped down.

"Thanks. I'm Carver" said the male student shortly. He hefted the fire extinguisher he had been swinging around from the pipe. His female partner dropped her arm, in it was a 2X4; she looked up and smiled sweetly. The smile contrasted oddly with the fresh blood that painted her visage. "Yeah, you'd probably be bashing our heads in too if you'd been a few minutes later. I'm Hailey Cook"

The third girl wiped the blade of a butcher knife on the hem of her skirt, she raised her hand in greeting "I'm Amamiya. You can call me Amaya"

"I'm Aki! And this is Jonas" Aki offered cheerfully.

"Right. Now that we're all properly acquainted, we need to get out of here. Unfortunately, I've got the Ducati today, so that's no good." Jonas interjected.

"So we're sticking together then? What'd I tell you about strays!" asked Aki.

"If we don't, we probably die." he said simply.

"When I ran inside, I saw the buses sitting in the parking lot. There had to be at least 20 of 'em. We need to get to the office and grab the keys." informed Hailey.

"Sounds like a plan." Jonas replied.

Everyone turned to Carver, who simply nodded. Behind him, the second pair of doors on the opposite side of the Cafeteria burst open. Two students ran inside, panting from exertion. They looked up and the male said "Easy, guys. We're no threat."  
Jonas lowered his hammer, the rest of his "group" followed suit. He hadn't even realized he had poised himself for attack. _What is wrong with me?_, he asked himself.

"I'm Takuya. This is the Goddess of Love" said the boy, his messy blond hair was in disarray and streaked with blood.

The girl had regained her breath and she smacked Takuya in the arm. "I'm Aphy. Short for Aphrodite."

"Well, you guys should stick with us. The more people we have, the better. We're going need as many people as we can get" Jonas offered. He heard Aki sigh behind him.

Takuya and Aphy looked at each other. They looked back at Jonas and smiled.

"I'm in" said Takuya.

"Me too!" Aphy chimed in.

"Then it's settled. To the office we go." Jonas said.


End file.
